Wiley, perhaps the most influential musician working in Britain today, has a habit of self-sabotage. In 2010, a few weeks before the release of his new album, he fell out with his record label and decided to upload more than 200 songs from the recording sessions: finished singles, experimental demos, even unreleased work by other artists he was about to collaborate with. His fans were delighted, but his relationship with the label collapsed and the album was never formally released. Three years later, not long after he finally secured his first No 1 hit, Heatwave, he once again leaked his new album ahead of release, this time because of a trivial dispute over the tracklisting.
Since he first began releasing music as Wiley in 2001, Richard Cowie Jnr has frequently disowned his creations, quit his record labels, dismissed the entire music industry, flaked on gigs and festivals, and announced his retirement from music altogether. He has publicly denounced and sacked his manager John Woolf several times, before rehiring him a few days later. Even long after you might think he would know better, Wiley has spent days arguing with teenage fans on web forums (“both ur parents are experiencing the credit crunch i aint”), and on Twitter (“im not 40 u dusty tramp go tell ya mum i said your house smells of mash potato”).